Sharks are known for being fierce, hungry, man eating creatures that attack any human in their sight. This view of the shark is entirely not true. They are concentrated on killers when they an actual attack on a human is rare.1 Sharks are located in all parts of the globe. Sharks are like humans in a way, they come in all different colors, all species look different and are unique in their own different way.2

Sharks can range in size from nearly 5 inches, to a 45-foot long whale shark. All sharks use their gills to breathe through by extracting oxygen from seawater. Most sharks have a streamed line bodies and fines to help them glide through the water. They are found in shallow waters of the coral reef and on depths of the bottom of the sea.3Different species of sharks are adapted to different temperatures of water. The tropical sharks are found in water above 70 degrees Fahrenheit. The temperate sharks live in water temperatures around 50 degrees to 70 degrees.4

All sharks have a backbone like most other sea creatures. The shark's skeleton is made of cartilage unlike most other fish. Cartilage is like bone, but is much lighter and more flexible than it. There are only 350 types of shark that have cartilage, and more than 20,000 types of fish of which contain bones.1 Different species of shark have different colors and markings depending on their environment. Most of them have blotches of color to help keep them camouflage on the reefs and ocean floor. Camouflage helps the sharks catch their prey, or hide form their predators.5

When you're in the ocean where sharks could be present you should up most precautions. The following is some advice to take when swimming in the ocean:

1) Always swim with another person, and donâ€™t wander away from a group of people.

2) Donâ€™t swim in shark infested waters, or waters where sharks have recently been spotted.